Mid Atlantic Regional Council on the Oceans

Stakeholders from the five states involved in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Oceans (MARCO) will meet next week in New York to discuss priority concerns for the ocean.  

MARCO has identified four major areas of focus--habitat protection, water quality, renewable offshore energy, and climate change.  These topics are critical to the future of the Mid-Atlantic marine environment and the organizers of this effort deserve praise for their efforts.  

However, many questions remain about the potential of this regional collaborative to work.  It is not a binding interstate compact, so the states are not mandated to act.  This is especially relevant since two of the five governors who announced the initiative are no longer in office, including Governor Corzine.  One immediate question, therefore, is whether or not Governor-elect Christie will support this effort.

Confusion also remains about the stakeholder process, the programmatic agenda, and the shared responsibility for implementation.    

The goals set out in MARCO's work plan are worthy, however in most cases, the objectives are insufficient to reach the goals.

For example, in the issue area of "water quality," the goal is to "protect human and envirionmental health and increase the ocean-related economic value of the region's coastal waters by maintaining and improving the region's water quality."  (p. 14)

The water quality objectives are to promote investment in the region's wastewater treatment infrastructure, reducing the amount of human derived debris, improving data collection, and developing an agenda to address atmospheric sources of nitrogen. (p.14) 

Two big ticket items missing from this list are combined sewer overflows, and land-based sources of nutrients, especially nitrogen.  Without addressing these issues, it will not be possible to meet the regional water quality goal.  

Despite these questions and concerns, it is an important step for the region to begin acting in concert to address common concerns we face in our shared marine environment.  

Earlier today, Monmouth University's Urban Coast Institute hosted a useful round-table session for NJ stakeholders.  In addition to many of the comments expressed there, the following is offered in hopes of beefing up the water quality provisions of the MARCO work plan.  

In May 2009, the Coastal Ocean Coalition and Shore11.org released the report "Ocean Water Quality in NJ:  Redirecting the Management Effort" which includes a number of relevant policy recommendations.  

Although these recommendations were intended for NJ, they can and should be applied in a Mid-Atlantic regional framework.

1) An Ecosystem-Based Management Approach

DEP must employ an ecosystem-based management approach to the management of New Jersey’s ocean resources.  DEP should coordinate its efforts and pool existing resources and data with the federal government, neighboring states and existing research institutions to employ a comprehensive program that recognizes and operates under the premise that the marine ecosystem and the impacts to it caused by our land-use decisions do not recognize political and jurisdictional boundaries.  Such an approach is required by the Federal Clean Water Act, the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act, the New Jersey Coastal Area Facility Review Act and the New Jersey Coastal and Ocean Protection Council Act. 

2) Bioassessments, Biological Indicators and the Development of Biocriteria

New Jersey’s ocean water quality should be assessed through a monitoring program that incorporates bioassessment techniques, utilizes biological indicators and establishes biocriteria as ecological goals to be met in conjunction with the use of traditional physical and chemical criteria and human health indicators.  New Jersey’s coastal monitoring program should include the following biological indicators:

• Benthic Community Studies and Benthic Indices

• Fish Index of Biologic Integrity

• Sea Grass Abundance And Distribution; Shoot Density, Biomass And Basal Coverage

• Shellfish Surveys of Abundance and Distribution

• Algal Bloom Surveys (Phytoplankton and Macroalgae); and 

• Nuisance Species Abundance and Distribution.

3) Surface Water Quality Criteria and TMDLs

Additional Surface Water Quality Criteria (SWQC) must be developed for New Jersey’s coastal waters, particularly for nutrients such as nitrogen that, in excessive amounts, cause harmful algal blooms, low dissolved oxygen levels and hypoxia.  Such criteria must incorporate both a numerical and narrative component, following the approach DEP used to develop the SWQC for phosphorus in New Jersey freshwaters, and must also utilize Best Management Practices such as requiring 300 foot buffers for development activities that have the potential to impact coastal waters through nonpoint source pollution.  In addition, TMDLs must be developed for ocean pollutants, and, in particular for nitrogen, the pollutant the EPA has identified as the cause of low dissolved oxygen levels in the ocean. DEP should coordinate its efforts with the EPA, as that agency is currently developing a nitrogen TMDL for the New York-New Jersey Harbor and has recognized and publicly acknowledged the need to develop a nitrogen TMDL for the entire New York Bight. 

4) Management of Land Use/Land Cover Decisions and Practices  

No ocean monitoring and protection program can be effective unless it incorporates the study and management of land use practices that impact the coastal ecology and water quality.  The importance of this element is underscored by the indisputable connection between land use activities and water quality made by Congress and the New Jersey legislature in every State and Federal statute adopted to protect the ocean, including the Federal Clean Water Act, the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act, the New Jersey Coastal Area Facility Review Act and the New Jersey Coastal and Ocean Protection Council Act.